GST Practitioner Exam Pattern/Procedure

  • Blog|GST & Customs|
  • 4 Min Read
  • By Taxmann
  • |
  • Last Updated on 6 March, 2023

The eligible persons who intends to get themselves enrolled as a GST Practitioners are required to pass examination conducted by the NACIN. The sales tax practitioner or tax return preparer enrolled under the erstwhile tax laws for a period not less than 5 years were required to pass these exams within 30 Months from the appointed day (i.e. 31-12-2020) [1]. The points relating to GST practitioner’s exams are discussed in the below paragraphs.

GST Practitioners' Question Bank with Quick Exam Guide book is a ‘do-it-yourself’ guide for aspiring GST Practitioners, where legal provisions are provided in a concise & precise manner, without tampering with the intent and spirit of the GST Laws.

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[1] Second proviso to Rule 83(3) of CGST Rules

1. Nature of Examination

The examination shall be a Computer Based Test. It shall have one question paper consisting of Multiple Choice Questions. A person shall be required to secure 50% of the total marks.

2. Pattern of the examination 

Total time allotted for the examination consisting of 100 Multiple Choice Questions is 2 hours and 30 minutes. The examination would be conducted in two languages – English and Hindi. The qualifying marks are 100 out of the total marks 200, i.e., 50% of the total marks. There is no negative marking in case of wrong answer.

3. Syllabus of the examination

The syllabus of the exams would consists of the following:

    • The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
    • The Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
    • All the State Goods and Services Tax Acts, 2017
    • The Union territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
    • The Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017
    • The Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017
    • The Integrated Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017
    • All the State Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017
    • Notifications, Circulars and Orders issued from time to time under the said Acts and Rules.

4. Registration and Exam Fee

A person who is required to pass the examination shall register online on a registration portal. The link of registration portal is generally shared by NACIN before each examination on CBIC and on its website. A person who registers for the examination shall pay examination fee in a manner as specified by NACIN .The fee amount as specified by NACIN for previous exams was Rs. 500. Separate fee would be required every time when the person appears for the examination.

5. Frequency of Examination

The examination would be conducted twice in a year. The details of the examination would be published by NACIN every year on the official websites of the CBIC, NACIN, GST portal, GST Council Secretariat and in newspapers.

6. Examination Centers

The examination shall be held across India at the designated centers. The option to choose the exam center shall be given to the candidate at the time of registration.

7. Periods for passing the examination

In case of those enrolled as sales tax practitioner or tax return preparer under the erstwhile tax laws for not less than 5 years and those enrolled as GST Practitioner having certificate in Form GST PCT-02,need to pass examination within 30 months from ‘appointed date’ i.e. from 1-7-2017.

8. Number of attempts 

A person required to pass the examination may avail of any number of attempts but within the period of 30 months given above.

However, in case the GST Practitioner appearing in the examination is prevented from availing one or more attempts due to unforeseen circumstances such as critical illness, accident or natural calamity, then, he may make a request in writing to the jurisdictional Commissioner to grant him one additional attempt to pass the examination. Such request needs to be made within 30 days of conduct of the said examination. NACIN may consider such requests on merits based on recommendations of the jurisdictional Commissioner.

9. Exam Results 

NACIN shall declare the results within 1 month of the conduct of examination on the specified official websites. The results shall also be communicated to the applicants by e-mail or by post.

A person who is not satisfied with his result may represent in writing, clearly specifying the reasons to NACIN or the Jurisdictional Commissioner [2] as per the procedure established by NACIN.

10. Disqualified from Examinations

If any person has been found to be indulging in use of unfair means or practices then may be declared disqualified for the examination by NACIN after considering his representation, if any.

An illustrative list of use of unfair means or practices by a person is as under:—

    • Obtaining support for his candidature by any means;
    • Impersonating;
    • Submitting fabricated documents;
    • Resorting to any unfair means or practices in connection with the examination or in connection with the results of the examination;
    • Found in possession of any paper, book, note or any other material, the use of which is not permitted in the examination center;
    • Communicating with others or exchanging calculators, chits, papers etc. (on which something is written);
    • Misbehaving in the examination center in any manner;
    • Tampering with the hardware and/or software deployed; and
    • Attempting to commit or, as the case may be, to abet in the commission of all or any of the acts specified in the foregoing clauses

Dive Deeper:
GST Practitioner Benefits, Eligibility & Qualification

11. GST Practioner exam date

Last GST practitioner exam was held on 12-12-2019. For the year 2020, till date there is no announcement by NACIN on conduct of examination for GST practitioner.


[2]‘Jurisdictional Commissioner’ means the Commissioner having jurisdiction over the place declared as address in the application for enrolment as the GST Practitioner in FORM GST PCT-1. It shall refer to the Commissioner of Central Tax if the enrolling authority in FORM GST PCT-1 has been selected as Centre, or the Commissioner of State Tax if the enrolling authority in FORM GST PCT-1 has been selected as State

Disclaimer: The content/information published on the website is only for general information of the user and shall not be construed as legal advice. While the Taxmann has exercised reasonable efforts to ensure the veracity of information/content published, Taxmann shall be under no liability in any manner whatsoever for incorrect information, if any.

28 thoughts on “GST Practitioner Exam Pattern/Procedure”

  1. I am CA with 15 years of Post qualification . I want to appear for GST Practitioner Exam. Could you anyone please help me what is procedure.

    1. “A Chartered Accountant is eligible to enrol for GST Practitioner. In this regard, an application in Form GST PCT-01 is required to be filled on the GSTN portal. On receipt of the application, the authorised officer will make necessary enquiries and thereafter would issue a certificate in Form GST PCT-02.

      The eligible persons who intends to get themselves enrolled as GST Practitioners are required to pass examination conducted by the NACIN. The examination is conducted twice in a year. The details of the examination would be published by NACIN every year on the official websites of the CBIC, NACIN, GST portal, GST Council Secretariat and in newspapers. Last GST practitioner exam was held on 12-12-2019. No examination was conducted in the year 2020. For year 2021, till date there is no announcement by NACIN on conduct of examination for GST practitioner.”

    1. Last GST practitioner exam was held on 12-12-2019. No examination was conducted in the year 2020. For year 2021, till date there is no announcement by NACIN on conduct of examination for GST practitioner.

  2. when latest edition (2021) Taxmann’s GST Practitioners’ Question Bank with Quick Exam Guide bu Divya Bansal will be available Currently it is 2020 edition and I am looking for an edition

  3. I have passed the GST practitioner exam conducted by NACIN on 14/06/2019 and my name also published in the list, but I didn’t get any certificate from NACIN (only mail confirmation). I want know any certificate/letter will be issued by NACIN to qualified candidates.

    1. sir please send your experience of exam, and how to study for practioner exam & prepration. please share him sir. thankyou.

  4. I had applied for GST Practitioner and got my GST PCT-02
    number on july 2021, when is the next GST Practioner exam commencing

  5. GSTP exam for 2022 date & syllabus not been notified yet. I need that for appearing for this exam. plz inform if you know.

  6. I am aged 56 working in private limited concern in accounts since 1990, I want to get trained and do serve in GST individually, please help how to proceed, I am non-graduate, please help and guide to start my own

  7. This exam will going to conduct in year 2022 ? Even no information is available on NACIN website.

  8. When does the exams will conduct? There is no Information in NACIN website even I cant reach the NACIN website. Any one Kindly Suggest me regarding the same. Thanks in advance

  9. Do i need to first enroll on the gst official website under the registration tab or what where to pay the fees and elibility?

  10. Myself having a valid GSTP ID (GST PCT-02) with enrolments number & same received to me 2 years back & the time limit to attend NACEN EXAM about to expire. The last examination happen in 2019 & not found any such examination conducted till date after 2019. Is there any restriction to continue as GST practitioner without qualifying this exam.

    1. No person enrolled as a goods and services tax practitioner shall be eligible to remain enrolled unless he passes such examination. But we need to represent or wait for any clarification since no examination was conducted after 2019.

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